*Due to building security requirements, picture identification may be required for entry.

1.Opening Remarks by Secretary of Natural Resources, John Laird

2.Introduction by Facilitator Preston Jordan

3.Opening Remarks by Members of the Panel

4.Presentation by State Oil and Gas Supervisor, Ken Harris on Current Practices and Policies of the Underground Injection Control Program

5.Presentation by John Borkovich, Groundwater Monitoring Section Chief at the State Water Resources Control Board on Their Role in the State’s Underground Injection Control Program

6.Presentation by Mike Nickolaus from the Ground Water Protection Council on the Underground Injection Control Peer Review Process

7.Opportunity for Public Comment on the State’s Underground Injection Control Program

8.Panel Discussion Regarding Next Steps.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING

FIRST MEETING OF THE UNDERGROUND INJECTION CONTROL

ADVISORY PANEL

OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ON

THE ADMINISTRATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STATE’S UNDERGROUND

INJECTION CONTROL PROGRAM

May 18, 2018

Pursuant to SB 83 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 24, Statutes of 2015), the California Natural Resources Agency and the California Environmental Protection Agency have appointed a panel comprised of a diverse group of individuals with expertise and scientific backgrounds in geology, toxics, oil and gas industry, public health, and the environment, as well as representatives from the agricultural and environmental justice communities. This panel will evaluate the regulatory performance and administration of the Underground Injection Control Program and make recommendations on how to improve its effectiveness by evaluating resource needs, statutory or regulatory changes, as well as program organization.

May 29, 2018

1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

State Resources Building* Auditorium (1st Floor)

1416 Ninth Street

Sacramento, CA 95814

* Due to building security requirements, picture identification may be required for entry.

The State of California is implementing extensive reforms to its regulation and oversight of oil and gas production to increase protections for fresh water aquifers, public health and safety, and the environment. Production from California’s oil fields is largely dependent upon enhanced oil recovery techniques such as the injection of steam or water due to the age of the oil fields, the type of oil, and the geology. When oil is pumped to the surface it naturally contains a substantial amount of briny water, called produced water. This briny water is reused in enhance oil recovery or disposed of using injection wells after it is separated from the oil. Enhanced oil recovery and produced water disposal are regulated by the Department of Conservation’s Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources’ Underground Injection Control Program. Through public processes and legislative actions, the Department has been working over the course of several years to strengthen the regulatory structure of the program, increase the staffing resources available, modernize its data systems, and improve interagency coordination with the State and Regional Water Quality Control Boards and the United States Environmental Protection Agency to improve the State’s regulatory oversight of underground injection control activity.

The SB 83 Panel is required to seek input from a broad range of stakeholders and the public with a diverse range of interests affected by state policies.

WHAT THE PANEL WILL DO

∙Seek input from a broad range of stakeholders and the public regarding the State’s Underground Injection Control Program.

∙Observe, comment on, and review a Peer Review conducted by the Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC), a nonprofit organization whose members consist of state ground water and UIC regulatory agencies.

∙Issue an independent final evaluation and recommendations regarding the regulatory program.

The Panel’s discussions and process will be facilitated by Jordan Preston of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

ACCESSIBILITY

Services, such as language translation, may be provided upon request. To ensure availability of these services, please make your request no later than ten working days prior to the hearing by calling the staff person referenced in this notice.

If you have any questions regarding the first meeting of the Underground Injection Control Advisory Panel please contact Brady Van Engelen at (916)-323-0413, or by email at Brady.Vanengelen@conservation.ca.gov